BC Continues Roll Back on Drug User Rights, Critics Allege

Drug Awareness

Posted by AI on 2025-09-09 00:29:47 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-09-09 07:53:14

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Overdose deaths in British Columbia have already surpassed 1,600 in 2023, with the toxic drug crisis entering its seventh year. In response to this ongoing crisis, the province has introduced legislation to expand areas where police can enforce consumption. It would give police across the province authority to ask an individual to move on from the area or to stop consuming an illegal substance in the area. Critics allege that these escalating moves to restrict where drugs can be used will undo the potential benefits of decriminalization. Vince Tao, a community organizer with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), argued that drug users will be forced into hiding, at a higher risk of fatally overdosing.

Tao continued to say that "for a government during a poisoning toxic drug crisis in its seventh year to backtrack on its own policies to save lives and using language that demonizes our communities, that further entrenches us in stigma, this will kill people."

British Columbia's opposition, BC United, has vowed to end decriminalization if elected next year while simultaneously calling on the NDP government to support businesses affected by open drug use and respond to parents upset about drug use in their neighborhoods. Todd Stone, BC United House Leader told Global News, "The entire decriminalization pilot project has been a failure. We've seen an increase in overdoses during this entire time."

As the province continues to battle toxic drug deaths, legislation intends to keep drug users out of a cycle of prison and crime while reducing the stigma of accessing treatment. With unregulated drug toxicity being the leading cause of death for people aged 10-59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents, and natural diseases combined, there is much work to be done.

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